Controversial Kimkins Diet Founder Heidi Diaz Under Attack by Former Clients, Associates

Like a snake oil salesman promoting "miracle cures" back in the 1800's, Heidi Diaz, the founder of the controversial "Kimkins Diet," is still promoting her weight-loss plan on her company's website, despite ongoing allegations of fraud and profit-skimming plus a pending class-action lawsuit.

What is Kimkins?

Under the screen name of "Kimmer," Diaz claimed to have lost 198 pounds in 11 months and eventually posted "Before" and "After" shots of herself online to demonstrate that her diet, which is a variation of the Atkins Diet created 35 years ago, really can work. People hungry for an easy solution to their weight issues flocked to Diaz's website and eagerly paid for her secretes.

Ironically, in a section on the official Kimkins website, Diaz herself admits that she actually lost 100 pounds in 6 months and has since regained the weight, but she blames that on "personal issues" and not the diet itself.

Does Kimkins Actually Work?

Laura Dolson at About.com has done quite a bit of research into the Kimkins Diet and has called this plan "a starvation diet"; some variations of the diet, according to Dolson's article, only allow 500 calories per day. With a diet like this, you will drop pounds, but, at the same time, you're denying your body essential nutrients, which eventually will lead to other health problems. Some Kimkins followers have reported side effects such as hair loss.

Even on a starvation diet, the human body will take measures to preserve itself, including slowing the metabolism down. Eventually, the body will adjust to that 500-calorie level and consider that to be normal, which means that any increase in calorie consumption will lead to weight loss.

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